Balloons may easily burst, but they sure can pack a powerful punch.
A number of Royal City residents reported hearing an explosion and some lost power at about 6: 45 p.m. on Saturday, March 17.
New Westminster fire inspector Brent Joel said balloons are to blame for knocking out the power.
"It got tangled up in the high-voltage wiring, caused a short, which makes the transformer pop," he said.
Fire crews were kept busy responding to alarms that were triggered by the incident.
The New Westminster Electrical Utility received calls from its "trouble centre" when the incident occurred. The crew patrolled the line and found balloons tangled in the lines.
According to city staff, the outage affected about 300 customers along Royal Avenue form Second Street to Sixth Street. The crews removed the balloons and restored power to all customers by 9 p.m.
